“Vitamin C is among the few energetic components that may profit all pores and skin sorts,” says Elizabeth Tanzi, M.D., board-certified dermatologist within the Washington, D.C., metro space and affiliate professor of dermatology at George Washington College Medical Middle. 

In terms of looking for a vitamin C serum, you may be met with a plethora of choices, together with a spread of potencies. These on the upper finish could also be labeled as “more practical,” however that is not all the time the case. 

There are numerous totally different types of vitamin C utilized in these merchandise, with L-ascorbic acid being essentially the most potent but additionally essentially the most unstable. So if you happen to put two and two collectively, a vitamin C serum with a excessive focus of L-ascorbic acid may put you in danger for irritation.  

As aesthetic doctor Dr. Barbara Sturm, founding father of her namesake line, not too long ago defined on the Clear Magnificence Faculty podcast, this rule doesn’t apply to dietary supplements: “Vitamin C is a extremely nice ingredient. As a complement, if you happen to do a excessive dosage, it will not damage you. It is wonderful and good for our immune system,” she says. 

“On our pores and skin, nevertheless, a excessive dosage [can] destroy your pores and skin barrier,” Sturm says, which can visually manifest as redness, irritation, and heightened sensitivity. “A excessive dosage of L-ascorbic acid bombarding your floor of the pores and skin isn’t a good suggestion,” she provides (most notably if in case you have simply infected pores and skin).

So if you happen to beforehand subscribed to a extra is extra philosophy with vitamin C, now you recognize the dangers. If vitamin C tends to interrupt you out or trigger sensitivity, go for gentler variations or decrease concentrations—listed here are a number of of our favourite vitamin C serums to buy. 

Or, if you happen to’d moderately go for ingestibles that can profit your full physique (pores and skin included), attain for a vitamin C complement. L-ascorbic acid typically would not have the identical tolerability points in dietary supplements. The truth is, high-potency vitamin C dietary supplements are sometimes even higher, opposite to topical merchandise. Simply be sure to select a system with a high-quality dose, supply, and bioactive type.

Undecided the place to search out such high-potency formulation? Here is our curated record of the perfect ones available on the market proper now to present you a head begin.